that is sending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars down the drain. thanks to npr we know about loads of unused spare change piling up as the nation stares down its debt. abc's jon karl explains. >> reporter: we took a journey to the u.s. mint in philadelphia for a lesson in how the government is losing money by making money. this is the presidential dollar coin. congress ordered the mint to make millions of them to honor every dead president but nobody seems to want them. they cost 32 cents a pop to make. the mint makes nearly 2 million of them every day. do the math. about 600,000 dollars a day to make them. because almost nobody uses these things, most go directly into storage. we found a bunch of them 100 miles down the road in a vault. here at the federal reserve in baltimore, the coins are packed into plastic bags stacked one on top of each other all the way up and down this aisle several aisles of them, millions and millions of dollars in presidential coins. federal reserve says they are piling up so quickly they are spending $650,000 to build a new vault in dallas to hol

of npr. >> brown: then, we ask nuclear regulatory commission chair gregory jaczko if u.s. reactors could withstand an earthquake like the one that devastated japan. >> ifill: from indonesia, ray suarez reports on the challenges and the troubles facing one of the world's largest democracies. >> it made tremendous strides politically and economically but still struggles with corruption. >> brown: kwame holman updates the budget battles as the house and senate offer dueling plans for reducing the deficit. >> ifill: and judy woodruff explores the deadline-driven deal cutting underway with political editor david chalian. >> brown: plus, in a season of tornadoes, floods and more, we get some poetic perspective on the beauty and power of nature. that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> okay, listen. somebody has got to get serious. >> i think... >> we need renewable energy. >> ...renewable energy is vital to our planet. >> you hear about alternatives, right? wind, solar, algae. >> i think it's got to work on a big scale. and i thi

the coins and use the miles to travel the globe almost free. but as first reported by npr, taxpayers haven't faired as well. is this program a waste of taxpayer money? >> the dollar coin program is a waste of taxpayer money. i think it's time to put a halt to this experiment. >> reporter: but ending it probably requires another law from congress. until then, the mint has five years and 20 presidents to go. lisa myers, nbc news, baltimore. >>> still ahead, the big showdown in washington over the debt limit. and the president's warned of potential catastrophe. so are lawmakers any closer to a deal? >>> and a sunday surprise for those dire predictions of carmageddon in california. >>> a little more than two weeks left until the u.s. treasury reaches its legal borrowing limit and the threat of the government being unable to pay its bills looms larger tonight. nbc's mike viqueira joins us from the white house. mike? >> reporter: lester, we're 16 days from a potential financial catastrophe. by all appearances it was a quite typical weekend summer day here in washington. the first family le

. mark, additional news at npr. captain mark kelly, astronauts, two-time shuttle pilot, commander, most recently commander of sts 134. spouse of a member of congress that has traveled to space. skip over the podium. melissa with news took media. she is the very effective speakers' committee chair who helped to get things going here for armor speakers' committee. lee perry man is the director of emps with associated press. he has organized two luncheons in a very short amount of time, and we are grateful for that. lowry is the nasa deputy administrator. elaine is the director in chief -- the editor in chief of "aerospace america." chris chambers, a professor at georgetown university and commentator for "russia today." mark, executive director with goi foundation. former national security assignment editor, reuter correspondent and pentagon producer at abc news. [applause] today's luncheon is not just about charles bolden, but about the future of nasa, which he leads. it is about his vision, president obama's vision, and some daunting and harsh budget realities, and how he will deliver it

, give me a break, it's legal now. the npr reporter explained that the teacher now discusses gay sex with students tore rowly and explicitly with a chart in the 8th grade. i feel like i'm representing parents who have not been invited to speak who have a seriously held religious view that marriage is between one man and woman and they want to protect their young children against other views. robin in 2006 had their 7-year-old son joey come home to tell about a book the teacher read to the 1st grade class on same-sex relationships. they thought he was mistaken at first. the request the school inform them about such presentations, and they were turned down. another couple, david and tonya parker had a worse result when questioning the teaching of the same-sex issues to their young son. mr. parker found himself in jail. i'm trying to be a good dad parker said after the arrangement. they were christians attempting to follow their faith. we're not intoller rapt said his wife. we love all people. that's part of our faith, but see the judge ruled in that case, the case of the parkers and th